On February 17, seeing the ice and snow gradually melting, Meng Zhong realized that Sima Cuo and Bai Qi were about to launch an offensive against his Yangguan, so he invited Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, and Le Jin to discuss tactics to defend Yangguan.

At present, the army of the other side of the city is mainly stationed in Yingshan, Yangguan, and Yinshan, the defender of Yingshan will be Wuying, and the defender of Yinshan will be Wei Xu and Yu Ying, and they will be stationed in these two places, mainly to prevent the Qin army from crossing Yinshan and Yinshan, and sneaking up on Yeyi and Wuyang behind Yangguan.

According to the battle reports sent by Wu Ying, Wei Xu, and Yu Ying in the previous year, the Qin army did send troops to try to cross the two mountains many times, but in the end it was repelled by the Wei army, which occupied a geographical advantage, until after the winter of last year, the Qin army retreated to Wancheng in large numbers, and since then the Qin army has temporarily stopped the infiltration of the corresponding mountains and Yingshan.

Yes, stop for the time being.

Now that spring is coming, the Qin army may attack Yangguan again, and in the case that Yangguan cannot be conquered in the short term, it is difficult to guarantee that the Qin army will not fight the idea to both sides of Yingshan and Yinshan again, so Meng Zhong thought about it and prepared to build some beacons in Yingshan and Yinshan, so that he could grasp the movements of the Qin army at any time.

And when he was discussing this matter with Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, and Le Jin, the cavalry sent by Mu Wu arrived at Yangguan first, and reported good news to Meng Zhongyu: a day ago, Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu had led 3,000 cavalry to wipe out the 2,000 Qin cavalry who had invaded the territory in the mountains southeast of Yeyi, and only a few Qin cavalry had fled.

Hearing the news, Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, and Le Jin immediately showed joy on their faces, but Meng Zhong was stunned for a moment and frowned slightly.

Seeing this, Zheng Zheng asked puzzledly: "Meng Sima and they have completely annihilated the cavalry of the Qin State, isn't Fang Chengling happy?" ”

Under the curious and puzzled eyes of everyone, Meng Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I'm unhappy, but ...... I didn't expect Ah Hu and them to wipe out that cavalry so quickly......"

Hearing this, Meng Sui suddenly suddenly asked, "Are you worried about affecting the war on my side of Yangguan?" ”

Meng Zhong nodded and explained to the generals: "I once said that this battle can only be resolved quickly, if it drags on, the Qin State will inevitably continue to send reinforcements, and the pressure on our Yangguan will be even greater...... But right now, there are still at least 100,000 people in the Qin army under the command of Sima Cuo and Bai Qi, and I can't beat it in Yangguan, so I originally planned to adopt the strategy of cutting off the grain route......"

Hearing this, Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, and Le Jin nodded in unison.

Regarding this trick to cut off the grain route, Meng Zhong explained to the three of them at the beginning of the year, it was nothing more than to take advantage of the Qin-Chu coalition army to enter the area of Fangcheng again, on the one hand, to find a way to drag down the main force of the Qin army, and on the other hand, to send cavalry around the rear to attack Wancheng, cutting off the grain and grass transportation line of the Qin army from Wuguan to Wancheng.

At that time, this Qin army will inevitably be in an embarrassing situation.

However, at the moment, Menghu, Huahu, and Mu Wu had destroyed the cavalry under Bai Qi early...... Of course, the main reason is to get rid of the Qin general Hu Yu and others, once these return to Bai Qi's army, tell Bai Qi about the fall of the cavalry, the secret of the bilateral stirrups can't be kept, I believe that Bai Qi will be more cautious about the attack of the other cavalry - since the Fangcheng cavalry has solved the cavalry under his command, then it will naturally return to Yangguan, this kind of obvious thing Bai Qi can not think of?

And in this way, Meng Zhong's tactics of attacking Wancheng around the rear are afraid that they will also be affected.

"Let this go in advance, and wait for Menghu, Huahu, and Muwu to return to Yangguan, and then discuss."

"Whoa!"

The next day, Meng Hu and Hua Hu led 2,000 cavalry back to Yangguan.

After learning the news, Meng Zhong immediately summoned the two to the handsome office in the Guannai.

"What about Mu Wu?"

Seeing that only Meng Hu and Hua Hu returned, Meng Zhong asked puzzled.

When Hua Hu heard this, he explained: "Ah Wu feels that since the Qin army attacked my Yuncheng and Yeyi after going around this time, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be a next time, so he decided to temporarily stationed in Yuncheng, discuss with Cai Wu, and set up some sentry posts between Yuncheng and Shangcai......"

"Oh."

Meng Zhong nodded knowingly.

For Mu Wu, he was still very relieved, so he didn't go into details, and asked Meng Hu and Hua Hu instead: "Why did you wipe out those 2,000 Qin cavalry so quickly?" ”

Indeed, according to his estimates, the duel between the two cavalry teams will have to be inked for ten days and a half months in advance.

Hearing this, Hua Hu told Meng Zhong about the battle, and said to Meng Zhong with a smile: "At that time, I felt puzzled, I felt that the Qin general almost didn't know the art of war...... This barbarian even wanted to ambush our army, but we only lured it slightly, and he led the whole army to try to raid our army, but as a result, he was naturally easily defeated by our army. ”

As he spoke, he said to Meng Zhong with great interest: "Ah Zhong, from this battle, it can be proved that it is completely feasible to use cavalry to attack the phalanx of foot soldiers, as long as the cavalry is equipped with thick armor, and the best war horses are also equipped with thick armor......

On the side, Meng Hu also echoed.

Meng Zhong smiled slightly.

Of course, it is possible for the cavalry to storm the infantry phalanx, of course he knows this, otherwise the cavalry is talking about the king of the plains.

But now, seeing Meng Hu and Hua Hu saying this, he has the heart to pour cold water on them, after all, the elite of the cavalry lies at the strategic level, not with the enemy foot soldiers who have already formed a formation.

"Aren't those real pawns? It's just some dismounted cavalry, even if they are easily defeated, it does not mean that the cavalry can restrain the foot soldiers, at least the crossbowmen's phalanx, the cavalry is difficult to break through...... Don't believe it, if I set up a crossbow formation, will you two have the confidence to break through? ”

"Three-stage shot?"

Hua Hu was stunned, and said with a strange expression: "That can't be counted, right?" ”

On the side, Meng Hu also said dissatisfiedly: "Ah Zhong, compare the crossbow array with three shots, this is too bad, right?" As long as there are enough crossbow arrows, no matter who can break through, okay? This cannot be used as an example. ”

Indeed, the biggest weakness of the three-stage crossbow soldier tactics lies in the kind of continuous crossbow arrow suppression, which requires too many crossbow arrows, recalling the Qin army's feint attack on Yangguan before the winter last year, less than a quarter of an hour before and after, the five thousand crossbowmen in Yangguan consumed tens of thousands of arrows, if there are no hundreds of thousands of arrows in reserve, it seems that this tactic will not be able to play a few times.

"Good, good."

Seeing that Meng Hu and Hua Hu were very dissatisfied with their example, Meng Zhong thought for a while and said, "Then take the foot soldiers as an example, in my opinion, the shield guards are fully capable of resisting the surprise attack of the cavalry...... In this way, the shield of up to one person is pestled on the ground, and the long Ge and spear that are one and a half zhang or even two zhang long are erected, and when the cavalry approaches the cavalry, the cavalry's Changge has not yet touched the other party, and the opponent's Changge and spear can poke the cavalry off the horse. ”

"This ......"

Menghu and Huahu looked at each other and were speechless.

Seeing the frustration on the faces of the two, Meng Zhong thought for a while and said, "Actually, in my opinion, the proposition of the two of you is feasible...... If you cast ironclad armed cavalry, the cavalry will not be afraid of swords, bows and crossbows......"

"Iron armor?"

Meng Hu and Hua Hu were stunned, and then their faces bloomed with a little essence.

Isn't it true that armor made of iron is stronger than wearing several layers of armor?

However, at this time, he saw Meng Zhong spread his hands and said, "The problem is, our city can't afford it. …… At present, there are more than 40,000 troops in our city, and about 5,000 people do not have enough armor, how can they afford to equip the cavalry with more armor? Not to mention casting armor out of iron. ”

Upon hearing this, Meng Hu and Hua Hu couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

According to their character, compared to leading the cavalry to follow behind the enemy and wait for the opportunity to harass, they are more inclined to take advantage of their unpreparedness to directly lead the army to raid, after all, this method of combat is the most direct and effective, and it is very likely to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

For example, with a thousand Qin troops against a thousand Fangcheng cavalry, according to the previous guerrilla warfare method, if the Fangcheng cavalry wants to destroy this thousand Qin soldiers, they have to trap the other party for at least a few days, and they will be trapped until the opponent's dry food is exhausted and forced to move, so that there are flaws in the formation, and then the Fangcheng cavalry will have a chance to break it, and if the opponent's armor is complete and the food is sufficient, the thousand Qin soldiers will put on a square gate formation like an iron bucket, and the cavalry will almost be unable to break it at a small price.

Of course, if the enemy does not know the power of the cavalry, it can be done, but the problem is that the Qin army now knows more and more how to deal with the Fangcheng cavalry, so that whenever a small group of Qin troops with a size of hundreds encounters the Fangcheng cavalry, they will immediately set up a square gate formation, neither pursuing nor escaping, just waiting for the main army and the main camp to send people to support, in this case, the Fangcheng cavalry has no way to take these Qin army foot soldiers, at best, they can only shoot a few arrows from a distance and kill a few unlucky guys.

Therefore, Meng Hu and Hua Hu believed that the cavalry must impact the ability of the infantry phalanx, otherwise, the threat of the cavalry would be greatly reduced.

Hearing the two of them's proposal, Meng Zhong thought of another kind of cavalry, a kind of cavalry specially used to impact the enemy's formation, heavy cavalry.

At present, the cavalry of other cities can only be said to be light cavalry with long-range strike capabilities, in the face of really fully armed, and formed a military formation, almost does not have the ability to impact the formation, but the heavy cavalry can do it, the heavy cavalry with men and horses is not afraid of the shield, not afraid of the bow and crossbow, not afraid of the cavalry, once the charge is launched, its power is almost unstoppable, the only problem is that the cost of building a heavy cavalry is too great, almost more than three times that of building the same light cavalry.

What's more, the limitations of the heavy cavalry are too great, and without the assistance and protection of other troops, they are too easy to be played to death by the same number of light cavalry - Meng Zhong knew very well that if a thousand light cavalry wanted to kill a thousand heavy cavalry, it was almost no difficulty.

For these reasons, Mong Zhong did not intend to form a heavy cavalry.

He explained the truth to Meng Hu and Hua Hu, and then reassured: "Let's talk about this matter in the future, now, our city can't afford the heavy armored cavalry you two mentioned...... If I am fortunate enough to be promoted to Grand Sima in the future, then I may consider building a heavy cavalry for you two to play around. ”

"Da Sima?" Meng Hu said with a strange expression: "It took a long time...... I'm afraid it's going to take ten years? ”

Meng Zhong rolled his eyes.

On the side, Hua Hu touched his chin and said, "Since the ironclad cavalry can't afford it for the time being, then ...... If we capture the enemy's armor, we can first let the cavalry wear a few more layers of armor, just like Wei Wushu, Ah Zhong, I think that the cavalry must have the ability to impact the enemy's formation, otherwise, the threat of cavalry will be greatly reduced......"

"Wearing a few extra layers of armor will affect the cavalry's mobility, right? Moreover, too much weight is also a drag on the war horse......" Meng Zhong said with a frown.

"This doesn't matter, anyway, the cavalry of the Qin army has been defeated by our army, in this case, you might as well strengthen the cavalry, and even I think that you can also try it and ask the cavalry to participate in a head-to-head confrontation......"

"Hmm...... Let me think about it. ”

Listening to Hua Hu's words, Meng Zhong fell into deep thought.

Although the significance of the light cavalry is to contain and harass the enemy, it is undeniable that Hua Hu is right, if there is a cavalry to assist the main army in the battle, then when the battle starts, this cavalry can play a role in quickly cutting the enemy formation and raiding the enemy's own position, the only problem is that the casualties of the cavalry will increase.

Suddenly, he asked Meng Hu and Hua Hu: "According to what you two said, that Qin general named Hu Yu is sure to flee?" ”

Hua Hu nodded and explained: "I chased Ah Hu and I for two hours, even if this guy escaped into the mountains and forests, we also led the soldiers to chase after it, but it was really ...... I couldn't catch up, and I don't know where I fled. ”

“……”

Meng Zhong frowned and pondered for a while, then nodded and said: "Okay, in that case, I will allow you to build a 'thick-armored cavalry', wearing three layers of thick armor like Wei Wushu, specially used for frontal confrontation, however, considering that there are still many soldiers lacking armor in our city, the number of this thick-armored cavalry will be maintained within five hundred for me for the time being." ”

"Five hundred each, right?"

Meng Hu and Hua Hu glanced at each other and said in unison.

Meng Zhong glanced at the two of them angrily, hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Five hundred each!" ”

"Oooh!"

Meng Hu and Hua Hu cheered, said goodbye to Meng Zhong, turned around and left.

As soon as the two of them left, Meng Sui came to the house, and he asked Meng Zhongdao with a smile: "I just saw Ah Hu and Hua Hu with happy faces, what's wrong?" ”

So Meng Zhong told Meng Sui about the situation.

Meng Sui frowned after hearing this, and said, "Five hundred thick-armored cavalry each? Wouldn't that require 3,000 sets of armor? Our army is currently lacking armor......"

Meng Zhong pressed his hand and explained: "First, Hua Hu is right, cavalry can only have a greater threat if it has the ability to impact the enemy's formation; Moreover, this time the Qin general Hu Yu got away, once this person returned to Bai Qi's side, Bai Qi did not necessarily fail to see through the role of bilateral stirrups, if he really understood this matter, then the next time when Bai Qi formed a cavalry, Qin's cavalry will also be equipped with bilateral stirrups, so that the advantage of our city cavalry will be greatly weakened, therefore, it is necessary to form a thick armored cavalry, so that these cavalry are first familiar with the impact of the enemy, whether it is against the Qin cavalry in the future, or to assist the main army in the battle, I believe it will be of great help. ”

"Okay."

Meng Sui nodded, and immediately, as if he had thought of something, he said to Meng Zhong, "By the way, I almost forgot my intention...... Just got the news that the Qin army had begun to move. ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong's expression froze, and he immediately nodded and said, "It's indeed almost the same as the counting days...... What about the Chu army? ”

"This is exactly what I want to say, this time to our city, Yangguan, only the Qin army, the number is about 100,000, but the Chu army, but in the direction of the north."

"Analysis?" Meng Zhong frowned and said, "That's not Korean ......"

Speaking of this, he nodded a little abruptly: "It seems that Zhaoju really didn't lie to me that day, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi did have doubts about him, so they sent him to crusade against Korea this time......"

Meng Sui nodded and said, "I think so too. …… Now what? The current situation is very different from our original estimate. ”

“……”

Meng Zhong frowned and pondered.

I remember that after reaching a tacit understanding with Zhaoju, Meng Zhong was ready to use the method of defeating his brother-in-law Tian Zhang in Pu to deal with Sima Cuo and Bai Qi.

At the beginning of the battle of Pushang, Tian Zhang and the Song army fought against the Qin general Yingji, but he did not expect the Song army to reach a tacit understanding with the Qin army in private, and suddenly withdrew his troops during the battle, so that the Qi army under Tian Zhang's command was completely exposed to the Qin army, which made Tian Zhang defeated by Yingji - this was also Tian Zhang's only defeat.

And now, Meng Zhong is ready to use this trick to deal with Sima Cuo and Bai Qi.

According to his agreement with Zhuang Xin, after the beginning of spring this year, the rebel general Zhuang Ji of Chu State will raise troops again in Chu State, and Xiong Heng, the king of Chu, will inevitably ask Zhao Ju to immediately withdraw his troops back to Chu Ying.

Unexpectedly, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi actually sent Zhao Ju and his Chu army to attack South Korea, which was really a bit unexpected by Meng Zhong.

He thought for a while and said: "There is no need to worry about the Korean side, although Zhao Ju led the army to South Korea, Zhuang Ji should still be in Chu as scheduled, I think, Zhao Ju may have just arrived in the Rushui area, and he will receive a summons from Xiong Heng, the king of Chu......"

"It's not going to help me." Meng Sui said with a frown.

Meng Zhong pondered for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Send a letter to Storm Kite, in the name of Zhai Zhang, ask him to ...... After the Chu army withdrew, he immediately led the army to Wancheng and attacked the rear of the Qin army. Then, I wrote to Zhai Zhang in the name of the Storm Kite, asking the latter to attack the Qin army together......"

Meng Sui opened his mouth and said hesitantly, "Isn't this okay?" ”

"What's so bad?"

Meng Zhong frowned and said: "Since Zhao Ju led the army to withdraw to the Chu State, and Sima Cuo and Bai Qi were in the area of Chengyang Pass on our side, what is the role of him guarding Rushui?" Zhai Zhang is also the same, if South Korea is in danger, his garrison in Yanyi can still play some role, but since South Korea is worry-free, what is he doing in Yanyi? Instead of letting Fang Cheng face the pressure of Sima Cuo and Bai Qi alone, it is better to deceive Storm Kite and Zhai Zhang, and the three parties will join forces to attack this Qin army and fight quickly! ”

"I always feel that it is inappropriate to deceive the two of them in the name of the two of them, for fear that I will offend these two people...... Storm Kite, his relationship with us is not bad, you might as well tell the truth......"

"Do you think the kite will send troops for the sake of friendship? No, as the great Sima of South Korea, the first thing he must ensure is the interests of South Korea, and even if we have a good relationship with him, from the interests of Wei and South Korea, he will definitely ensure the interests of South Korea first. Of course, this is understandable, but at the moment, the main forces of the Qin army are all in my Yangguan, and there is no reason for us to face the pressure of the Qin army alone, right? ”

"This ...... Well, I hope there won't be a grudge between the two. ”

"No, as long as you can defeat the Qin army in the end, you can laugh at it."

After that, Meng Zhong wrote a letter in the name of Storm Kite and Zhai Zhang, and ordered the soldiers to send someone to Yanyi and Rushui to hand over to Zhai Zhang and Storm Kite respectively.

Around the beginning of March, the Han general who was stationed in Rushui received a letter from Meng Zhong in the name of Sima Zhai Zhang, the great commander of Wei.

After reading the contents of the letter, Storm Kite's face turned angry.

During this period, Han Zu, a general from the side, asked, "Why is Da Sima angry?" ”

I saw that the violent kite endured his anger and said: "That Zhai Zhang is so hateful, he requires me to lead the army back to Wancheng before the third and a half months, cut off the return route of the Qin army, and fight the Qin army front and back with him......"

"Is that so?"

Han Zu also said angrily: "Then Zhai Zhang doesn't know that Zhao Ju of the Chu State has led 100,000 troops into our country? ”

Hearing this, the angry expression on the face of the violent kite froze, and he stared at the letter in his hand with a frown, and said strangely: "About this...... It's strange that Zhai Zhang somehow said that the Chu army was about to withdraw to the country soon......"

Before the words fell, a soldier hurriedly walked in from outside the tent, and reported with his fists in his fists: "Qiqi Da Sima, the Chu army on the other side of Rushui is retreating for some reason. ”

"Huh?"

Storm Kite was stunned when he heard this, and then he couldn't help but glance at the letter in his hand, and his face showed a little incredulity.

"This Zhai Zhang...... How did he know that the Chu army would withdraw its troops? Did he do something in secret?'

Storm Kite really can't figure it out.

From the side, the subordinate general Han Zu said: "Da Sima, what should we do now?" ”

I saw the violent kite staring at the letter in his hand for a while, and then sighed and said, "What else?" Although Zhai Zhang's evil words threatened, my Korea is powerless to face the Qin State alone, so I can only seek refuge in the Wei State and not offend this person...... After the order was given, the whole army was ready to attack, and after the Chu army retreated, they immediately rushed to Wancheng to cut off the return route of the Qin army! ”

"Whoa!"

At the same time, Zhai Zhang, who was stationed in Yanyi, also received a letter written by Meng Zhong in the name of the tyrannical kite.

After reading the contents of the letter, Zhai Zhang was greatly puzzled.

"It's strange, for some reason, that violent kite actually asked me to attack the Qin army together, and there are all kinds of radical intentions in the letter......"

From the side, a general Tang Zhi asked, "Is Da Sima ready to send troops?" ”

Zhai Zhang thought for a while and said: "The matter of resisting Qin has always been dominated by our Wei State, supplemented by South Korea, and now South Korea has the intention of facing the Qin army head-on, how can our Wei State lag behind?" The order went down, ordered all the armies to prepare, and after two hours, immediately rushed to Yangguan! ”

"Whoa!"